Southern California -- this just in

Missing cruise ship employee's family meets with investigators

March 27, 2011 | 4:34
pm

Family members of a 24-year-old Disney cruise ship employee who went missing from the vessel last week met with investigators Sunday in San Pedro, where the ship docked.

Rebecca Coriam, a native of Chester, England, did not report for duty Tuesday on her job as a youth activities counselor aboard the Disney Wonder. The ship, which carries about 950 crew members and 2,700 passengers, was on a seven-day trip along the Pacific Coast of Mexico.

Authorities boarded the ship Friday at Cabo San Lucas and have conducted searches of the near-1,000-foot vessel, Disney Cruise Line spokeswoman Christi Erwin Donnan said. Because the ship is registered in the Bahamas, the Royal Bahamas Police Force is leading the investigation and the Bahamas Maritime Authority is also involved. The Mexican Navy conducted the search of the ship’s route and the U.S. Coast Guard was notified.

“We have been doing everything possible to find Rebecca Coriam,” Erwin Donnan said in a statement. “In addition, we have been working with all of the appropriate authorities. Rebecca’s disappearance has been difficult for everyone at Disney Cruise Line. We’ve been in close contact with the Coriam family, and we’re assisting them in any way we can.”

Coriam’s parents, Mike and Ann, have asked for privacy but did speak briefly Sunday morning with KABC-TV (Channel 7). “It’s just, just very, very painful,” Mike Coriam said. “And the thought of not seeing her again, I don’t know, it’s frightening to think about it, really.”

Coriam began working for the cruise line last summer and was on her second contract with the company, Erwin Donnan said.

The Disney Wonder began sailing seven-night trips along the Mexican Riviera on Jan. 23. It departs from the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro on Sundays and is at sea on Mondays and Tuesdays before docking in Puerto Vallarta on Wednesdays. It stops in Cabo San Lucas before returning to San Pedro.